1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process and a device for preparing, shipping and acclimatizing exotic fish or aquatic plants.
For more than 60 years, live exotic fish have been shipped in soft plastic bags, at the risk of leaks through punctures or of killing the fish by squashing the corners. This has led to more than negligible losses during transport. Besides, because of their flexible nature, these plastic bags do not lend themselves to a progressive acclimatization of the fish prior to their transfer into the aquarium in which they are to live. Then, too, the water chemistry in these bags usually differs considerably from that in an aquarium especially with respect to the nitrate and ammonium pH level, resulting in a sometimes significant mortality rate in the weeks following the transfer of the fish into the aquarium, a particularly undesirable fact given that some exotic fish are quite rare and often rather expensive.
The same problem is encountered with exotic aquatic plants intended for seascaping the aquariums.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art already offers various techniques and means, described in the following documents and designed to keep living marine organisms and especially molluscs alive during transport:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,361,A describes a process and a device for preparing bivalvular molluscs and keeping them alive outside their natural habitat, assuring their marketability without posing a hazard to the consumer. The device which is intended to meet these requirements consists of a small, rigid, transparent tank which can be closed off with a rigid, transparent lid that fits over the rim of the tank and is equipped with a valve through which a suitable gas mixture can be introduced after the extraction of air enclosures trapped during the closing process, preceded by the insertion of the molluscs and their preservative liquid. Such a device, if indeed it is suitable for shipping live fish and aquatic plants, does not permit effective initial preparation and, even less so, an appropriate acclimatization process, the only guarantee for keeping organisms thus shipped alive and ultimately thriving in an aquarium.
The French patent 2,755,432. A describes a conditioning process for live aquatic animals, using a tank filled with water and air and closed off air-tight by a lid, which tank distinguishes itself from similar devices primarily by the particular shape of the bottom and the walls which makes allowances for the shape of the aquatic animals in question, in this case strictly bivalvular shell-fish and especially oysters, which can be arranged in a single layer without the risk of upending or piling them by repeated handling during transport. In this case as well, the inventor has the same concerns as in connection with the example discussed above.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,200. A relates to a container that constitutes a sort of portable fish pond essentially intended for keeping alive and well such fish as can be used for angling or for restocking. The reusable lid is therefore factory-supplied with two plug-equipped bung holes through which the water can be oxygenated while at the same time air trapped between the surface of the water and the lid can be siphoned off by means of a device mounted on the outside wall of the container. Large-diameter piping is provided at the bottom of the container, allowing all or part of the content to be emptied out after removal of a plug in the lid.
As is evident, none of the processes and devices described in the documents briefly discussed above, whether by themselves or in any combination, provide for the preparation or conditioning and shipping of the live aquatic organisms in question and much less for the progressive acclimatization of delicate exotic fish or plants that are to stay alive in an aquarium under totally artificial conditions, considering that these fish and plants are quite expensive and that even the slightest loss during the transport or acclimatization has a negative effect on the profitability of the business concerned, whether or not it is aimed at aquariophiles or at pisciculture.
It is the objective of this invention to remedy these shortcomings. The invention as specified solves the problem by defining a process and providing a device for the preparation, shipping and acclimatization of exotic fish or exotic aquatic plants, reducing losses during shipping to an absolute minimum or in fact to zero while also permitting an acclimatization to a new aquachemical environment in the aquarium under ideal conditions before the fish or aquatic plants in question are transferred into the target aquariums.
The process for preparing, transporting and acclimatizing exotic fish or aquatic plants, employing a tank of a rigid plastic material and a transparent plastic foil for hermetically sealing the said tank after partially filling it with water containing the fish or plants, with the possible addition of a gas, is characterized in that:
A- The preparation is performed along the following steps:
a) The fish or plants to be shipped are placed in the water with which the tank is first filled up to 50% or, respectively, 80% of its capacity;
b) The tank is purged of air and, possibly after the introduction of a gas, is then sealed with the plastic foil.
B. The acclimatization involves the following steps:
After levelling the tank, two perforations are punched into the plastic foil that seals the tank;
Water taken from the receiving aquarium is introduced drop by drop;
The drop-by-drop introduction is continued for a specific length of time after excess water has been removed through the second perforation;
The plastic foil is removed;
The fish or plants are transferred into the aquarium.
The device used for applying the process per this invention, employing a tank of a rigid plastic material and a transparent plastic foil ensuring the hermetic sealing of the said tank after it has been partially filled, is characterized primarily in that the plastic foil is provided with markings for the location of the two perforations to be punched into the foil for the acclimatization phase, that the acclimatization device consists of flexible tubing one end of which is connected to an immersion tube inserted in the water of the aquarium while its other end extends via a valve through one of the perforations previously punched into the plastic foil and into the inside of the tank.
Several tanks containing fish and/or plants for the same aquarium can be acclimatized together by means of shared tubing, connected to an immersion tube via a coupling and to a manifold that connects to each of the tanks via individual hoses and valves.
The flow of the water from the aquarium to each tank takes place by gravity, for which each tank is placed below the water level of the aquarium.
The advantages made possible by this invention consist essentially in the ability to fully automate the preparation process, to render the shipping process cost-effective allowing for transit times of up to six days for fish and four weeks for aquatic plants, and to greatly simplify the acclimatization process, with the use of the tank itself as shipping container giving the organisms involved the best chance of survival.